Henna Questions (nupur, jamila)

[KatCooke]

It's been awhile since I have henna'd my hair, although I have had some amazing results in the past. I have always used the henna for hair celebration boxed sets that are sold on the website. Money is tight, shipping takes time, and there are several Indian grocers nearby. I want to try Godrej Nupur henna with the extras already added in, but I am unsure what the end result will look like. My hair is already medium/dark reddish brown, and I would like more of a coppery red. I know the amla makes hair browner, and I was wondering if I tweak my mix with some jamila if the color will go redder? Anyone use this stuff?
I am planning my mix using:
Vatika Coconut oil (If I can get some)
Rooibos tea
a splash or two of acv
honey

I usually use it overnight and then mermaid soak followed by serious conditioning. I want to make a really large batch, do one whole head application followed by weekly SMT glosses.

Thanks for all the hair help I have gotten thus far- you guys rock!

[prettykitty]

This is probably no help at all-but I picked up two boxes of Jamila and a packet of Godrej Nupur last week, and had also been tossing up between which to choose!
I'm going to do a whole head treatment on the weekend with the Jamila, assuming I'm happy with it once I've opened the box, etc. I'm not sure yet what I'll do with the Nupur...but it sounded too good to pass up with all the lovely ingredients, and it was cheap, so I bought it anyway :p. I'm also a very dark brown, with a nice wash of henna red, but it needs to be built up to get the depth of shade I'm looking for.

[KatCooke]

That's pretty much how I feel, and part of me wants to just try the nupur on the off chance that the darker browner color works better on my skin tone- as there are a very select few true reds that really work on me. So I may do a whole head application and then just gloss away until the color is where I want it. Who knows?

[prettykitty]

We'll have to compare notes!
Those are the two brands that are easiest to get in my area, so I'm hoping one of them will be great. There are giant bags of mehendi stuff at the Indian grocers but I can't understand the writing on them so I get a little freaked.
Who knows, the Indian writing on them probably says "OMG this is the best henna ever, put me in your hair" :D

[KatCooke]

Yes! I guess this could be the Nupur test thread. I am planning on getting my hands on some tomorrow or Thursday. I'm excited regardless of the color really. I like my natural color and I like my hair with henna, so as long as my greys get covered, I'm cool. Any other perks are simply a bonus!

[prettykitty]

I was just reading up online, and I found the most awesome commercial ever for Godrej Nupur!
Here's the link-http://www.godrejnupur.com/tvc.php

Super cool and awesome.

[KatCooke]

awesome- I cant wait to try it! Hopefully friday night this will be done... yay!:cheer:

[KatCooke]

So, my local indian market (that said they had it!) was out of the Nupur. I wound up buying Seasons Dulhan Mehendi. From what I've read on the forum, it seems like it's good quality. It's got amla and shikakai, and a few other herbs in it as well, so I'm pretty excited. I mixed 200g with REALLY strong Rooibos tea, a splash of ACV, a squeeze of honey, and some vatika coconut oil (which is AWESOME!) and I'm now waiting for dye release. Hubby is going out of town tonight for a gig, so I will do it overnight since he hates the smell.
Here is a picture of my hair today outside (it's not normally this way, I had a job interview and used my :gasp!: curling iron this morning)
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a235/StregaDelleLuna/IMG_20110708_144425.jpg
I will report back with my results!

[prettykitty]

Sounds exciting! I hennaed today with the Jamila, mixed with rosehip and chamomile tea, olive oil, a little condish and some Dabhur amla gold oil.
I've rinsed and it's drying, so I don't know how it looks yet. The Jamila was soo much easier to rinse than previous hennas I've used though (had tried icky Lush henna a couple of times, and some Nazeer, very gritty and overpriced) and also easier to apply-I guess that's the finer sift.
Can't wait to see how yours turns out!

[blueygirls]

I just bought a packet of nupur henna 70g for $2.50. But its packaged in 07/09 and expires 07/12. Seems like it was packaged quite long ago, is yours like this too? Does nupur give moer of a brown or red on grays? :) thanks!

[KatCooke]

So- the Dulhan is awesome! I really love this stain, and this price. I was up all night, but that's another story (I did start re-watching Charmed though, so there's that.) Anyway, I had the mix on my head for about 8 hours, and it was a bit drippier than I remember henna being (of course I was always asleep, so who knows?) It also stained my hairline, which was a first. I oiled it but perhaps that encouraged the staining?
Onward: to the pictures!
Before:
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a235/StregaDelleLuna/IMG_20110708_144425.jpg
Before:
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a235/StregaDelleLuna/Snapshot_20110708_8.jpg
After:
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a235/StregaDelleLuna/IMG_20110709_143407.jpg
After:(Forgive the p.j.'s and lack of makeup!)
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a235/StregaDelleLuna/IMG_20110709_143420.jpg
I love it! I know that it will oxidize and darken, but I kinda wish it wouldnt!
I found my henna- yay!:cheese:

[prettykitty]

Ooh, that came out well!
I thought I'd gotten the Jamila out easily but evidently not-after my run this morning I had orange sweat running out of my hair, argh!
Need to take a picture but there's no sun to show the colour :(

[prettykitty]

The point is probably moot by now, (for me as well as I can no longer buy it) but I finally tested the Nupur! A very interesting henna indeed. My recipe was a splash of ACV, and boiling water with Rosemary tea, Rosehip tea, and a regular black teabag. It mixed in a clumpy, but simulaneously silky way...it sort of felt wrong, like how Meera hairwash powder feels when you put it in.
I let it develop overnight, wrapped in clingfilm in the fridge. It was pretty normal to apply, but seemed to stain skin very easily, which I took as a good sign that it'd take well.

I left it in for a little over five hours, then rinsed, deep conditioned and rinsed again. It stained my scalp pretty orange, but I have slightly thin hair and sometimes a scalp stain is necessary to get down to my roots.

It hasn't oxidised yet, but I'm thinking it may come out a little more burgundy-ish than my previous Jamila treatments. I'll sweet talk DF into taking some pics on the weekend. :)